paiN vs. Monte, what went wrong?
paiN have been looking very strong and their first three games in Paris showed that. Unfortunately, the Brazilians couldn't win any of the BO3 series they had and have been eliminated from the Major after a 2-1 loss against Monte.
MontepaiN| Monte |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Viktor 'sdy' Orudzhev |
63 - 36 | +27 | 88.0 | 82.6% | 1.39 |
 Mohammad 'BOROS' Malhas |
49 - 48 | +1 | 85.0 | 73.9% | 1.19 |
 Szymon 'kRaSnaL' Mrozek |
51 - 47 | +4 | 86.4 | 69.6% | 1.16 |
| Sergiy 'DemQQ' Demchenko |
46 - 42 | +4 | 75.8 | 66.7% | 1.14 |
| Volodymyr 'Woro2k' Veletniuk |
45 - 41 | +4 | 64.9 | 71.0% | 1.06 |
| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
63 - 52 | +11 | 96.6 | 69.6% | 1.33 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
44 - 45 | -1 | 69.9 | 65.2% | 0.94 |
| Felipe 'skullz' Medeiros |
38 - 52 | -14 | 70.9 | 58.0% | 0.86 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
35 - 52 | -17 | 57.9 | 56.5% | 0.73 |
| Romeu 'zevy' Rocco |
34 - 53 | -19 | 53.2 | 63.8% | 0.68 |
Monte are not to be messed with
The Ukrainian team has had a 76% win rate over the past three months, which says how good they are. They had a tough opener against FaZe, and slipped against FORZE, but other than that, Monte is a force to be reckoned with, despite changing IGLs before the start of the Major. This is a team that thrives in the European second tier, one of the most competitive environments in CS history.
paiNful end to the journey
paiN's quality isn't in question here. The team is young and inexperienced, but organized and methodical. You can see how much it means for them after that picture of Romeu "z3vy" Rocco and Josh "oSee" Ohm surfaced. The two most exciting young prospects from the paiN squad didn't show their true potential in Paris, but that's okay, they are young, and it was their first-ever major. Less than a year ago no one in the international scene knew of z3vy or Felipe "skullz" Medeiros, and to be making the major and have the expectation to make it to the Legends there, says a lot about this team.
It's not the end of the world
paiN didn't live up to their expectations, at least not during the BO3 series. Underperformance induced by inexperience or nerves is understandable and normal, but if paiN want to start CS2 with a bang, they need to accept that this was a lesson for them and only grow from there.
Losing 16-1 on your own map pick isn't normal, there are clear issues that need to be fixed, but this squad has what it takes to be Brazil's next big thing.
Not the performance we were expecting
The underperformance came from the least experienced members of the squad, naturally.
-
IGL biguzera, also top fragger
-
This was z3vy's worst series in his entire career
-
Nuke was the map where skullz killed the least number of enemies in more than two years
What's next for paiN?
paiN are now out of the Paris Major, but the season isn't over for them. The Brazilians still have to play ESL Challenger League Season 45 NA playoffs, and ESL Challenger Katowice 2023.
